805K health workers still waiting for P37.8-B benefits

The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) on Saturday welcomed the government’s disbursement of P216 million in health emergency allowance (HEA) for front-liners of Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines and Philippine Genome Center who rendered hospital work last year. But the group lamented the lack of funding for the long overdue HEA estimated to be worth P37.8 billion retroactive from July to December 2021 for more than 805,000 health-care workers. “This is part of our initial victory in our collective effort to fight [for our rights],” the AHW said in a statement. “But the fight isn’t over because [the government] still owe us,” it stressed. Health-care workers at the Philippine General Hospital and the National Kidney Transplant Institute are still awaiting their mandated pandemic benefits for July to December 2022.